


Naivety

by tomurau



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Genre: Gen, Hope, Reincarnation, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 13:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3412520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomurau/pseuds/tomurau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he had not lived past a hundred lives he thought he could run away, outwit YHVH and escape his punishment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Naivety

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [NineBillion](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/NineBillion) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> "The Earth is large. Large enough that you think you can hide from anything. From Fate. From God. If only you found a place far enough away. So you run. To the edge of the Earth. Where all is safe again. Quiet, and warm. The solace of salt air. The peace of danger left behind. The luxury of grief. And maybe, for a moment, you believe you have escaped."
> 
> This is shit, I'm sorry.

At one point, when he had lived for hardly a hundred lifetimes, he thought that if he ran far enough and hid well enough YHVH could not find him. 

And so he took to the ocean, half the time wandering aimlessly across the earth, trying as best he could to hide who he was and mostly succeeding. 

Eventually he came to a foreign land filled with sound and vibrant colours which he hid behind, thinking naively that he could hide from a curse. 

There he began to work odd jobs and steal occasionally, often getting by on cheap scraps. 

It was while he was running some cloth from one merchant to another that he saw a young man with a shard of something more familiar and dear to him than anything else. 

Though he felt the impulse to run and hold the man and kiss his hands and the earth at his feet, he held himself still. 

He was trying to hide from YHVH, he reminded himself. Going after Hevel would bring him nothing—he knew that already from the many times he had tried to speak to his brother, going so far as to beg him to remember him, and Hevel could recall nothing of their life together. 

If anything, following his brother around like a dog would likely make him easy to find, what with how utterly predictable it was. 

Thus he let the young man who carried within him a shard of Abel's soul disappear into the crowd. 

In that time people moving from town to town quickly was not anything extraordinary and so he was able to easily leave as soon as he had made enough money to do so. 

He would arrive and leave quickly, occasionally changing his appearance drastically. This rhythm he settled into easily enough. 

He saw the one with the shard of Abel once more, three years later. The young man had grown more handsome and he had a woman on his arm who he clearly adored. 

Cain allowed himself a smile before he moved on to his own work. 

The cycle of arriving in a town, saving money, and leaving made him feel comfortable, maybe even safe. 

At one point he even thought to himself, _I am safe. YHVH cannot find me now_ , before he banished the thought from his head. 

It was only once his body had caught a sickness which in those days led quickly to death that he let down his guard and allowed himself to believe that he had cheated YHVH and escaped his punishment and curse. 

He chuckled to himself weakly. _I am better_ , he thought. _I have outwitted Him._

He closed his eyes and waited for death to take him, but just as he began to fall into his last sleep he heard the voice of Metatron, YHVH's messenger. 

**No Matter How Far You Run, You Are Still Running From Your Creator And Hiding On His Earth** , it said. 

**You Cannot Escape The Murder Of Your Brother, Qayin**.

And thus his naive hopes were dashed and he was reincarnated yet again.


End file.
